**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**
AD: “Knock Knock Knock. Who could that be? It’s the Trump campaign and they’re spreading more than just campaign pamphlets.”
Watch New Ad HERE
Today, Protect Our Care is releasing a new digital ad highlighting why Trump’s campaign can’t be trusted to run a safe canvassing program. From the beginning, Donald Trump has done everything in his power to downplay the danger of the virus, publicly undermining and mocking expert guidance urging Americans to wear masks and engage in social distancing, and making ridiculous claims that the virus would just go away.
In addition to leading to more than 5 million cases and 160,000 American deaths, this sent a clear signal to his supporters that has resulted in anti-mask and anti-social distancing movements that have contributed to community spread of the virus and made it more difficult to get the disease under control.
This ad will focus particularly on states where Republican governors have refused to require masks including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Iowa, as well as Michigan where armed protests against efforts to mitigate the virus erupted earlier this year, to warn viewers about who may be coming to their door as part of a potentially unsafe canvassing operation
“There’s a safe way for political campaigns and other organizations to canvass during a global pandemic,” said Zac Petkanas, Director of Protect Our Care’s Coronavirus War Room. “However, voters should have no confidence that the president’s reelection campaign is taking any of the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the virus after Trump spent months downplaying the danger, ignoring expert recommendations, mocking the need to wear face masks and flouting social distancing best practices. Every day we see another example of the president’s hardcore supporters proudly spreading the virus by refusing to wear masks in public places. Now, we’re supposed to just trust them when they come knocking at our doors? I don’t think so.”
BACKGROUND: TRUMP AND HIS SUPPORTERS HAVE DOWNPLAYED AND FLOUTED SAFETY PRECAUTIONS:
On August 7, President Trump Falsely Claimed The Virus Was “Disappearing” In Front Of A Crowd That “Violated Social Distancing Regulations.” “It was an unexpected perk of their country club membership: being the audience for President Donald Trump’s hurriedly announced news conference Friday evening at his course in Bedminster, New Jersey. They were props in a surreal gathering that violated COVID-19 safety guidelines but gave Trump a stage on which to end his week by falsely claiming the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the nation and endangering his reelection campaign was ‘disappearing.’ …Reporters arriving at the club before the news conference watched as members, many carrying glasses of wine, hurried from an upstairs dining room to the first floor ballroom… Neither group was given the rapid COVID-19 test usually administered by the White House to anyone who will be near the president. After reporters tweeted that most in the crowd, packed shoulder to shoulder, were not wearing masks, a staffer handed masks to anyone in the audience who wanted one. Most, but not all, put on a face covering.” [Associated Press, 8/9/20]
On August 7, Tens Of Thousands Of People, Some Wearing “Trump 2020 Outfits” Attended A Rally In Sturgis, South Dakota, That “Could Have Been Any Other Major Festival In Pre-Pandemic Times.” “Tens of thousands of motorcyclists roared into the western South Dakota community of Sturgis on Friday, lining Main Street from end to end, for the start of an annual rally that kicked off despite objections from residents and with little regard for a public health emergency ravaging the world… Save for a few hard-to-spot hand-sanitizer stations, it could have been any other major festival in pre-pandemic times. ‘Screw Covid I went to Sturgis,’ read a black T-shirt amid a sea of Harley Davidson and Trump 2020 outfits sported by the throng of people walking along Main Street. Their gear did not include face masks, and social distancing guidelines were completely ignored.” [New York TImes, 8/7/20]
Florida State Senator Joe Gruters Posted A Photo With Florida State Representative Anthony Sabatini Where They Were Going Door To Door For The Trump Campaign And The Florida GOP Without Wearing Masks Or Social Distancing. “@AnthonySabatini is driving the @FloridaGOP today as we hit the Villages going door to door. He is a rock star with the base and the President @RealDonaldTrump loves him! @ChrisMZiegler.” [Twitter, @JoeGruters, 8/8/20]
Trump On July 18: “I Don’t Agree With The Statement That If Everybody Wears A Mask Everything Disappears.” “Trump also said that he disagrees with the assessment by Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who said at a news conference this week that ‘if all of us would put on a face covering now for the next four weeks, six weeks, we could drive this epidemic to the ground.’ ‘I don’t agree with the statement that if everybody wears a mask everything disappears,’ Trump said. ‘Dr. Fauci said don’t wear a mask, our Surgeon General, terrific guy, said don’t wear a mask. Everybody was saying don’t wear a mask. All of a sudden everybody’s got to wear a mask.’” [CNN, 7/18/20]
On July 3, A Mostly Maskless Crowd Of More Than 7,000 People Packed Together To Attend President Trump’s Independence Day Celebration At Mount Rushmore. “On the eve of Independence Day, President Trump celebrated at the foot of Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, S.D., with a fireworks display and an impassioned speech against what he called a ‘new far-left fascism.’ About 7,500 attendees won an online ticket lottery sponsored by South Dakota’s state tourism department. Despite the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, crowds in red, white and blue were seen packed close together and mostly maskless. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem told Fox News ahead of the event that while free masks would be provided, attendees would not be required to wear them or to practice social distancing.” [NPR, 7/4/20]
On June 20, Trump Flouted CDC Guidelines And Did Not Require Mask Wearing During His Indoor Rally In Tulsa, Oklahoma. “Inside, virtually none of those assembled in front of the stage wore masks, and few throughout the rest of the arena had face covers. The few who did were vastly outnumbered by those who did not. ‘What we are seeing at this rally is a very overt denial’ that coronavirus still poses a health danger, Dr. Irwin Redlener, the director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, said on MSNBC. ‘How bizarre has this gotten?’” [NBC News, 6/20/20]
On June 19, Trump Claimed Americans Were Wearing Facemasks Only To Signal Disapproval Of Him. “Mr. Trump said testing for Covid-19 was overrated and allowed for the possibility that some Americans wore facial coverings not as a preventive measure but as a way to signal disapproval of him. Many public-health experts say testing followed by quarantining sick individuals and their close contacts is crucial to contain the spread of the virus.” [Wall Street Journal, 7/19/20]
On May 26, President Trump Even Mocked Vice President Joe Biden For Wearing A Mask In Public. “President Donald Trump on Monday shared a tweet mocking his presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential challenger, Joe Biden, for wearing a face mask during a public appearance for Memorial Day. ‘This might help explain why Trump doesn’t like to wear a mask in public. Biden today,’ said the message by Brit Hume, a Fox News political commentator, alongside a message of Biden wearing a black mask and sunglasses.” [Business Insider, 5/26/20]